Laura Anseth already cares for two children and several pets, but this month she decided to become a foster mother to two sickly litters of newborn kittens.

Like the infants she cares for as a part-time registered nurse, baby cats require warmth, affection and frequent feeding during a crucial stage of their lives.

The need for committed caretakers like Anseth is especially urgent from spring to fall, known in the animal shelter world as "kitten season." Cats tend to breed in warm weather, which means local animal control facilities and shelters get flooded with litters, sometimes accompanied by their moms but very often orphaned.

Newborns can't stay in the shelters; their undeveloped immune systems make them susceptible to diseases carried by other animals. Yet if they are not properly cared for, young kittens can easily die before they are old enough to be adopted. The tiniest ones require constant warming, frequent bottle or syringe feedings and assistance in defecating.

And while kittens are some of the easiest animals for the public to fall in love with, they are also some of the most likely to be euthanized at animal control facilities if they are not quickly fostered and then placed in permanent homes.

So every year, a small army of volunteers steps up to serve as foster parents, a job that is time-consuming and sometimes heartbreaking. Within two days of being welcomed into Anseth's west suburban Aurora home, two of the eight kittens had died. Last week Anseth rushed to the vet with another.

Although she has tried to become more philosophical about the inevitable losses, Anseth said her son Ethan still takes it hard.

"I have a 13-year-old boy who has a soft heart," Anseth said. "He likes that we rescue kittens and feels like we are doing something good, but it's hard ... when they die."

Adding to the challenge of kitten season, shelter officials say, is that people don't tend to think about adopting cats in the summertime.

"People want dogs this time of year because the weather is better and you can take them outside to play," said Paula Fasseas, founder and chairwoman of PAWS, the city's largest no-kill humane organization. "In the winter people like to curl up with a warm kitty on a cold night. Our cat and kitten adoptions do super well in the wintertime."

About 230 rescue groups and shelters have signed on to take transfers of orphaned kittens from Chicago Animal Care and Control, said Brad Powers, assistant to the director. That is the preferred option because kittens are more comfortable in foster homes, he said, but the shelter also can care for some newborn kittens on a short-term basis.

"When the kittens come in without a mother we will try to identify a mother who is nursing kittens who are approximately the same age as the orphaned kittens and see if she has a litter small enough to add one or two more," Powers said. Volunteers also have donated materials that allow some direct care in critical situations, including bottles, syringes, heating pads and formula.

But when resources don't match demand, he said, some kittens can be euthanized.

"We will look at the animals and the condition they are in, their weight, their response to feeding and what resources we have available," Powers said. "The decision to euthanize animals, including neonatal kittens, is something we look at on a case-by-case basis. ... And we never take that decision lightly."

West of the city, DuPage County Animal Control so far this year has been able to place all of its kittens in foster homes, according to administrator and veterinarian Todd Faraone. The department's website flatly states that kittens less than 8 weeks old cannot stay at the facility.

Fasseas of PAWS, who has been fostering six kittens in a bathtub, said Chicago Animal Care and Control saves the lives of far more abandoned animals today than when PAWS was founded 15 years ago.

But the most lasting improvements happen, she said, when community members step up to adopt, spay and neuter animals. Currently her organization is holding an adoption drive to find permanent homes for 325 baby felines.

"The government is not going to solve the animal welfare problem," Fasseas said. "The community solves it. That's why it's so important for people to get involved. In the next three to five years I am hoping we will become a no-kill city. Then the only animals that will not be saved will be vicious dogs or animals that are very sick."

Anseth, who figures she's temporarily taken in more than 50 tiny cats over the past seven years, says caring for orphaned kittens can be extremely rewarding but requires commitment and some equipment. She has gradually collected a series of clear plastic containers that can hold and warm different-sized kittens on a heating pad. She has also fashioned a fleece kitten holder that can be strapped around her neck and waist.

"At a certain age they need to be with you constantly," she said, "so I have taken them with me to Target and even to family reunions."

She recommends the experience to others who have the time, resources and right temperament. It's not a good fit for families with young children who also require close attention and who could accidentally injure a fragile feline with a slammed door or overly tight squeeze, Anseth said.

Caretakers don't necessarily need to commit to weeks of work, said Ann Potter of the Portland area's Multnomah County Animal Services, whose website outlines the shelter's policies on kittens in detail.

Potter said someone once dropped off four newborns just before her shelter closed for the night, and she knew they would be euthanized the next day without overnight care. Potter ended up taking them home herself, but the experience prompted her to develop a list of "respite fosters" who could take vulnerable newborns for a short time.

"I've found that if you give people a specific and limited time period, they will step up," she said.

Pet owners who can't adopt or foster more cats should at least make sure that their animals are spayed or neutered, said Natalie DiGiacomo of the Humane Society of the U.S.

"One of the things that people don't understand is that a cat can start breeding at five months," she said. "People (will) say that I will do it next month ... but it is critical to do it as soon as you can."

"And if they don't have the time or environment to take care of the animals, they can help with resources and supplies and things," DiGiacomo said.

Claudia Aguilar shares a studio apartment in Ravenswood full time with two frogs, Franny and Zooey, and three cats named Eleanor, Rigby and Tortilla. But that didn't stop her from opening her home to two more roommates named Jian and Niala last month.

Now 12 weeks old, the kittens came to Aguilar through the Treehouse Humane Society at 8 weeks, when they were already old enough to use a litter box and eat kibble. But without all of their vaccinations, they were still vulnerable to diseases that can spread in a shelter. So she has been raising them in her warm bathroom, where they curl up in her tub while she's at work.

On a recent night she had some friends over to meet Jian as a prospective pet. As the friends bonded with the handsome gray tabby, Aguilar looked on with mixed feelings.

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